Digital

What is data.gov.scot and why are we doing it?

June 3, 2026 by deborahamzil No Comments | Category Data, Digital Strategy for Scotland, Open Data, Scotland's data

This blog post has been written by the Open Data team in the Data Division of the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate. We are building data.gov.scot, a new service to make it easier to find, access and reuse Scotland’s data. This is the first in a series of blog posts which we’ll be releasing over the coming months.

What is data.gov.scot?

data.gov.scot will become the new home for open data about Scotland. It is being designed to improve how users discover and work with data, while also supporting those who publish and manage it.

Alongside the public-facing data.gov.scot service, we are developing tools to help data publishers manage datasets more effectively and publish them in a consistent, reusable way. Our aim is to create a more modern, accessible and user-centred data platform that meets today’s needs.

This work is being led by the Scottish Government’s Open Data team, part of the Data Division in the Digital Directorate, working in partnership with Storm ID as our delivery partner.

Why we’re building something new

The Scottish Government’s current open data platform, statistics.gov.scot, was launched in 2016. It has played an important role in making Scottish Government data available, but user needs and technology have moved on since then.

We now have an opportunity to:

• Improve how people discover, find, and explore data
• Make it easier to access and reuse data
• Provide better tools for publishing and managing datasets

This new platform is part of a wider programme to bring more data and services together over time and improve how data is shared across Scotland. This programme has been shaped by insights and learning from earlier Discovery and Alpha phases, helping us focus on what users need most.

What’s changing and when

data.gov.scot will replace statistics.gov.scot. We plan to launch a public beta in late summer 2026. We will give advance notice and clear guidance to support this change.

At launch:

• All new data publishing will take place on data.gov.scot
• The current site will remain available for a period of time as a reference
• Existing data will continue to be accessible during the transition

In the meantime, you can continue to use the current service: https://statistics.gov.scot

What this means for you

data.gov.scot is being designed with a wide range of users in mind.

If you use data, we want this change to:

• Make it quicker and easier to find what you need
• Improve how you can work with and reuse data
• Provide a more modern and accessible experience

If you are responsible for publishing data, we want this change to:

• Make it easier for users to access your data
• Improve how you manage and publish your data
• Provide insight and feedback to what your users value

Whether you are an analyst, researcher, developer, data publisher, or simply interested in data, this service is being designed with you in mind.

Taking a phased approach

We are delivering this work in phases. Our first step is to launch a public beta of data.gov.scot in late summer 2026. This allows us to:

• Release something useful sooner
• Test it with real users
• Learn what works and what needs improvement

We will continue to develop and expand the platform over time, adding more datasets, features and improvements based on user feedback.

Working in the open

We are committed to being open about what we are doing. We will share what we’re building, what we’re learning, and how the service is evolving. We will be sharing a series of blogs over the coming months to update you on our progress as we work towards launch

Get in touch

We welcome your feedback at any stage. If you have questions or would like to share your thoughts, you can contact us at: statistics.opendata@gov.scot

We look forward to sharing more with you soon.

Tags: Data, data.gov.scot, Open data

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